1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices and control methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a technique that prevents software that is not intended for use on a device, e.g., an image forming apparatus, from undesirably becoming usable on the device by automatically inhibiting installation of such software on the device is known. Examples of the software include firmware and application programs.
Examples of such a technique include a technique that determines whether or not software to be installed on a device is intended for use on the device by using information held by the device and inhibits installation when the software is not intended for use on the device.
Another example technique is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-086069 (Patent Document 1). According to this technique, a server determines whether or not firmware is publicly available. When the firmware is not publicly available and is not applied to an image forming apparatus, an instruction that prevents application of the firmware is issued to the image forming apparatus.
However, in a certain operating mode of the device, a situation where software is undesirably installed without making the determination as to whether or not the software is intended for use on the device prior to the installation can occur. Accordingly, the above-described conventional technique cannot sufficiently prevent software that is not intended for use on a device from undesirably becoming usable on the device.
In recent years, a device separated into a main body unit and an operating unit such that the operating unit controls operations of the main body unit is developed. In such a device, the operating unit generally makes the determination as to whether or not software is intended for use on the device. However, the operating unit is not necessarily capable of making the determination because the operating unit does not necessarily hold information, based on which the determination is to be made.
Therefore, there is a need for a device and a control method sufficiently capable of, even when the device includes a main body unit and an operating unit that controls operations of the main body unit, preventing software that is not intended for use on the device from undesirably becoming usable on the device.